The appeal of Cung Le, Rich Franklin and other distinguished men of the UFC octagon

As UFC middleweights Cung Le and Rich Franklin were getting set up inside the octagon early Sunday morning in Macau (mid Saturday morning in the U.S.), FUEL TV play-by-play man Jon Anik noted that, at 40 and 38 years old respectively, both were “on the back end of their primes.”

In case you couldn’t tell, that’s a polite way of saying they’re old. It’s kind of like calling a fighter “well-traveled” or saying he’s “a grizzled veteran.”

It’s not fooling anyone, but it sounds nice.

As Le proved with one solid right hand on Franklin’s jaw in the UFC on FUEL TV 6 main event in Macau, old fighters can still get a taste of glory every now and then. Maybe they’re even uniquely capable of savoring it for what it is. Unlike the young up-and-comers who are sure that the pot of gold is just around the next corner, the elder statesmen of this sport are trying to slow time down rather than speed it up. They’re not trying to make stuff happen so much as they’re trying to make it last.

Le chalked his victory up to a “lucky punch,” and he was half-right. He was lucky that Franklin stuck his chin straight up in the air after a low kick, just waiting for a counter right hand to find its way home. Le didn’t need a second invitation. For all his kicking brilliance, it was a simple looping punch that sent Franklin flopping face-first into the mat midway through the first round. It was one of those knockouts in which you can’t tell if the losing fighter suffered more trauma from the initial blow or from the collision with the floor.

In a post-fight interview, Le called it “the biggest fight of my life,” which seems about right. His drubbing of Frank Shamrock resulted in more material for his highlight reel, but here he beat a respected former champ in the main event of the UFC’s debut in China, and at a time when his MMA career was starting to look like it could go either way. Now he’s 2-1 since coming to the UFC, and can pretty much call his own shots with regards to his next move. You know, within reason.

For instance, Le’s not going to fight for a UFC title any time soon. And since the UFC has yet to match him up against any opponent who’s south of 30, he’s probably not going to square off against one of the young hot shots of the middleweight division. So where does that leave him? Probably right about where he already is, facing off against other fighters who are on “the back end” of their primes, and getting paid pretty well to do it. That’s justifiable – since why wouldn’t you want to see Le fight? We already knew he could flick out kicks the way other people throw jabs, and now we know he can hit for power too. So what if he’s 40? As long as he gets to compete in the UFC’s version of a seniors tour, he’s still plenty competitive.

But there are always those mixed feelings about seeing two, shall we say, distinguished fighters duke it out. On one hand, it’s better than using them as puppy chow to feed to some hard-charging 25-year-old. On the other hand, we can look at where they are in their careers and tell that some things have passed them by. Winning starts to seem like treading water: You’re not exactly improving your position, but it’s better than the alternative.

I realize that sounds depressing, but it’s not. It’s actually one of the better-case scenarios. At least Le is the type of fighter who can really still do it at 40, as opposed to the type who just keeps telling himself and others that he can. Then you always wonder whom he’s really trying to convince.

On the flip side of the coin, there’s Franklin. He’s closing in on 40 and has been doing the win one/lose one tango for the last several years. Guaranteed, here’s where some people will tell him to call it a career. That train always rolls into the station right on time.

He could quit if he wanted to, and no one would think any less of him. Even if he trudges on, he has to know that he can only delay that retirement party for so long. But then, you think he wants to go out like this? You think he wants our last memory of him to be one where he’s facedown on the canvas? No way. And besides, he just got caught. Who’s to say he can’t come back and catch somebody else? Who’s to say he can’t get that taste of victory on his tongue one more time before it’s over? Plus, there’s always the money, which doesn’t hurt either.

Maybe the best way to approach these things in the twilight of your career is to do it like Le, who seems almost physically incapable of planning for the future. When asked at the post-fight press conference where this victory leaves him, he replied simply: “With a win. I don’t know, but definitely it’s going to lead to some large pizzas.”

See what I mean? When you know time’s running out whether you like it or not, limiting your future plans to the very next meal might be the smartest thing you can do.

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